Yasmine Lahlou

Initially trained in Paris and qualified to practice both in France and New York, Yasmine works easily across civil and common law traditions. She has particular experience in construction, pharmaceutical, aerospace, telecommunications and energy disputes involving both private and sovereign parties.

Yasmine has acted as counsel and arbitrator under the most widely used arbitration rules, including the ICC, ICDR, LCIA, UNCITRAL and SCC Rules. In addition, she represents clients in courts actions related to arbitration award enforcement proceedings, helps clients seek discovery under U.S. Code Section 1782 and serves as an arbitrator.

• Represents a Brazilian company seeking to recover from the owner losses arising out of the wrongful termination of an EPC contract for the construction of a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit in Brazil, in an ICC arbitration seated in New York.
• Represents the operator of a consortium responsible for operating an oil & gas field off the coast of Brazil in a dispute between the consortium members arising out of alleged violations of a joint operating agreement, in an UNCITRAL arbitration seated in Paris.
• Defends a European sovereign against claims for breach of a bilateral investment treaty arising out of alleged violation of an investor’s legitimate expectations in their real estate investment, in an UNCITRAL arbitration seated in The Hague.
• Advises a Brazilian construction company in managing and resolving its claims arising out of an ongoing contract for the construction of two floating production storage and offloading units (FPSO) units.
• Advises a French engineering company in managing disputes arising out of its construction projects in the United States.
• Successfully obtained an award in favor an Italian construction company in an ICC arbitration regarding a power plant construction project in Guatemala.
• Co-led an eight-lawyer team in representing a Brazilian company in an ICC arbitration regarding the construction of a floating production unit (FPSO).
• Acted for a Korean construction company in an ICDR arbitration to resolve a dispute arising out of a road construction project in Afghanistan.
• Represented a global pharmaceutical company in an ICDR arbitration against a competitor concerning a manufacturing agreement.
• Advised a French company on setting up an online arbitration institution.
• Represented a leading Brazilian private equity firm in an ICC arbitration seated in São Paulo against one of the world’s largest hedge funds, obtaining a dismissal of more than $100 million in claims based on an alleged contractual option.

• “Does a Right to a Physical Hearing Exist in International Arbitration?” ICCA-supported survey (2020), Co-editor.
• “Arbitrators’ Authority to Reconsider and Modify Awards Under US Law: Functus Officio and Beyond,” Thomson Reuters Practical Law (2020), Co-authored with Andrew Poplinger and Silvia Marroquin.
• “An Early Experience with Arbitration Video,” Chaffetz Lindsey (2020), co-authored with Peter Chaffetz and Andrew Poplinger.
• Chaffetz Lindsey Arbitration in the Courts Report, Co-editor.
• “The Rise of Environmental Counterclaims in Mining Arbitration,” Global Arbitration Review’s Guide to Mining Arbitration (2019).
• “How Courts Treat Foreign Award Judgments: The Unsettled State of US Law and an English Perspective,” IBA’s Dispute Resolution International, Vol. 12 No. 2 (2018).
• “Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards and Judgments in New York,” Kluwer Law International (2018), Co-Authored with Andreas Frischknecht and Gretta Walters.
• “How to Mock Your Case Effectively,” in Global Arbitration Review’s The Guide to Advocacy – Third Edition (2018).
• Member of the editorial board of the ICC’s Dispute Resolution Bulletin.
• Peer review board member of the American Review of International Arbitration (ARIA) at Columbia Law School.
• “Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards,” International Arbitration in the United States (Shore, Cheng, La Chuisa, Schaner, Senn, eds), (Wolters Kluwer, 2018).
• “An Overview of the Law Applicable to Arbitrations Sited in New York,” International Commercial Arbitration in New York (Carter, Fellas, eds.), Co-Authored with David Lindsey (Oxford University Press, 2010).
• Revue de Droit des Affaires Internationales / International Business Law Journal, Thomson Reuters Group, Regular contributor since 2000 on conflict of laws issues
• “Le Role de l’Arbitre dans la Lutte Contre la Corruption,” (The Role of Arbitrators in Combating Corruption), Revue de Droit des Affaires Internationales / International Business Law Journal (2012).
• “L’applicabilité de L’Article 28 U.S.C. 1782 à l’Arbitrage Commercial International,” Les Cahiers de l’Arbitrage (2009).

• “Views from the Frontlines: Hot Topics in International Arbitration for 2021” CIArb (Virtual, March 2021).
• “International versus domestic standards under the New York Convention: due process and public policy limitations for the production of evidence in online arbitrations,” NYU (Virtual, September 2020).
• “Navigating International Courts and Tribunals During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” ABA International Law Section (Virtual, April 2020).
• “From Promise to Practice: How to Raise the Bar for Diversity in International Arbitration,” Columbia Arbitration Day (New York, March 2020).
• “Multi-tier dispute clauses: Yay or Nay?” YConstruction (New York, February 2020).
• “Construction Adjudication: How to Keep Things Moving,” Annual Arbitration and Investment Summit (Nassau, January 2020).
• “International Commercial Arbitration in an Era of Retreating Globalism,” BVI International Arbitration Conference (British Virgin Islands, November 2019).
• “The Intersection Between Arbitration & Mediation as Dispute Resolution Methods,” Perlman Vidigal Godoy Advogados (Sao Paulo, October 2019).
• “Non-traditional issue in investor-state arbitration,” 9th Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference (Prague, October 2019).
• “Protecting legal privileges and commercial confidences,” ICC New York (New York, October 2019).
• XV Rio de Janeiro Conference on International Arbitration (Rio de Janeiro, May 2019).
• GAR Live Stockholm (Stockholm, May 2019).
• Third Annual International Arbitration Conference at Penn Law (Philadelphia, March 2019).
• 3rd CARDS’ Tour de Arbitration Conference (Paris, January 2019).
• V Annual CAM-CCBC Pan-American Arbitration Conference (São Paulo, October 2018).
• American Society of International Law Annual Conference on International Law (Washington, D.C., April 2018).
• Faculty Member at the Annual Certificate on International Commercial and Investment Arbitration since 2016 (organized by the University of Roma III).
• Business BVI’s second BVI International Arbitration Conference (Tortola, May 2017).
• Inaugural Latin Lawyer–Global Arbitration Review Live Arbitration Summit (Miami, April 2017).
• “Looking Ahead: Effectively Arbitrating Complex Disputes in the Global Energy Sector,” ICDR Conference, Moderator, (Houston, April 2017).
• Fifth Annual ICC Middle East-North Africa (MENA) Conference on Arbitration (Dubai, April 2017).